Emotional, psychological stress caused by the increasing pace and demands of modern life is rapidly becoming a serious medical problem. Many somatic ailments, such as circulatory hypertension, are rooted in such stress, and other apparently organic problems, such as migraine headaches, are sometimes aggravated or wholly caused by it.
Various techniques for relieving stress involve some form of relaxation, often with the intention of creating a physical and emotional state corresponding to that of a trance or deep meditation. Special sensory-deprivation chambers in which the patient or subject is wholly without external stimulus have proven quite effective in reducing stress-related symptoms. Unfortunately this type of device available to treat stress or assist stress-relief therapy is usually so cumbersome and expensive as to put such treatment out of reach to the majority.